Beast

Coincidence

Leroy's POV

I sit quietly on the bus on my way to work, it wasn't too full as the morning rush hour had already passed, it was actually almost midday. I stared out of the window, peeking curiously into cars that pulled up next to the bus and watching pedestrians walk back and forth along the pavement, there was nothing special about today, it was simply a normal day.

The bus stops and the doors open, no one gets off but a few people get on. I watch as a woman grins and hurried down the aisle of the bus, sitting down on the seat in front of me next to another woman, they happily greet each other. The doors close and the bus begins moving again, the only people talking on the bus are the two women in front of me.

'So, how is your son? I haven't seen him in a long time, he's adopted isn't he?' One woman says.

The woman who just boarded the bus nods, 'Yes he's adopted, from WestTown Care home, I believe the last time you saw him was when he was very young, he's a young adult now'

My attention is instantly drawn to the woman at the sound of WestTown Care home, I stare at her in shock, she adopted a boy from WestTown? I think about what she has just said, he's a young adult now, and she adopted him when he was a boy, using maths that means that she probably adopted the boy around the time that the incident happened. But that doesn't make sense,  my research told me that there were very few children who were adopted from WestTown Care home as it was very hard to do so. 

'But to be honest with you, and I know it's horrible of me to say this but I do regret adopting him'  the woman says, making her friend gasp and stare at her, awaiting an explanation. 'Well, I didn't adopt him from the care home, I actually found the poor boy young boy walking around on street at night looking lost, I approached him and he told me that his foster parents kicked him out and gave up their responsibility over him, I took pity on him and took him in as my own, it was after that he told me that he was adopted from WestTown Care home' 

'So why do you regret taking him in?' her friend asks, I stare intently, desperate to hear their conversation. 

'Well I was happy for taking in a child and giving him a home, I did a very good thing' the woman says but then sighs, 'but the boy scares me a little, when her first started living with us he was always silent and rarely spoke to me but I dismissed his behaviour as I thought he was still shy and would eventually warm up to me, so I started to bring other children to my house, my sister's kids and my neighbour's kids in order to try and make him come out of his shell, but he would bully the poor children and make them cry and I hated telling him off, so I stopped inviting kids over' 

'Well, he may have just been feeling a little bitter and hurt that his original foster parents kicked him out' her friend frowns, biting on her lower lip, pink lipstick smudging onto her teeth.

 'I thought that as well, but even now that he's much older, he hasn't really changed' the woman shakes her head 'He never listens to anything I say and is rarely at home, he's always out and I never know where he is, not only that but he's very abusive in his language, he says some horrible things to me when we argue, but I just can't kick him out, I feel bad' 

I sat listening to the rest of their conversation, it was very interesting to me that she found a child from that care home on the street and took him in, it was also very interesting to hear of his bad behaviour, could he know Annalise? Maybe they were in the care home together, this could help the case, this boy may have some information.

I jump off the bus, following the woman as she gets off too, I trail behind her for some distance and watch as she walks up the driveway of a cosy looking house and walking through the front door, so she lives here, which means the boy lives here too. 

---

'So you're telling me that this whole conversation took place in front of you on the bus?' Officer Jones frowns as I sit in her office, re-telling the story of this morning, I nod, watching as she sighs and leans back in her chair, 'I don't know Leroy it just seems like a bit of a coincidence that you heard this and that meeting the boy will help move the case forward, I don't think a case has ever been solved by coincidentally overhearing a stranger's conversation, not whilst I've been around anyway'

 'I just want to do some research on the boy, maybe he knows who we're looking for or he knows Annalise, he could have some helpful information and if he doesn't then we'll continue the investigation as we originally planned, please' I exclaim, eager to convince her to let me investigate the woman and he adopted son further, in the end Officer Jones nods.

'Fine, you can investigate them but on the condition that you don't talk to them about the case, just do some research, I don't want this getting out to the media' she warns, eyes squinting daringly, I nod as a grin spread across my face. 

'I promise' 

---

'Good afternoon, my name is Officer Leroy' I smile at the woman as she stands in her hallway holding her front door open as she looks me up and down warily, 'Is it okay if I can come in and speak to you?' 

'Sure' she steps aside to let me in, closing the door behind me and leading me into her living room.

'I've been doing some research about WestTown Care home and its children and I found out that your son is originally from the care home, do you mind if we talk about that?' I ask, showing her my police ID badge as I sit down on her comfortable sofa, she nods and sits in the armchair across from me. 

She spends the next ten minutes repeating to me what I had overheard on the bus about how she found her son and took him in, I just nod along with her and occasionally write down some notes, 'May I ask what he looks like?' 

'Well, I don't actually have a picture of him but I can describe his physical appearance to you if you would like' she hesitates, I shake my head.

'Don't worry about it' I flick through the bits of paper that I had brought with me 'Instead, could you tell me if you recognise one of these two children?' I pull out a picture of Annalise which was taken from the CCTV footage when she came to the station, she furrows her eyebrows before shaking her head. 

'I don't know this girl, sorry'

I then pull out a picture of the young boy with the piercing green eyes and hold it up in front of her, she gasps instantly before nodding her head, 'Oh yes, that's him, that's my son' 

My eyes widen as I lean forward 'This is your son? The boy you found on the street that you just told me about? The boy you took in?' I stare a there in disbelief, I would have never guessed that he was the boy she was talking about, I thought that her adopted son would have known Annalise or the boy but I didn't think that he was the boy, could it really be true? Is this the boy I've been trying to find but have failed to find out any information about him? 

'Yes that's him, although that is quite an old picture that I have never seen before' she squints, looking closer at the photograph.

'Would you mind calling me one day when your son is home? I wish to speak with him regarding my research' I scribble down the phone number of my office at the station and hand it to her, she nods in agreement. I guess finding him was easier than I imagined.

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It's... my... BIRTHDAY! I'm sorry for not uploading in a while but I hope this chapter makes up for it! Thank you for all of your amazing comments that I LOVE reading and thank you for you're incredible patience, I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoy writing it. COMMENT&VOTE